My review of La Ghianda

You might never have thought about Italy’s Trentino region but listen up. I’m going to introduce you. Better yet, I’m letting food take you to this Tyrolean area in Italy, near the Austrian border.

If you’ve been to La Quercia on Fourth Ave., then you’ve eaten Trentino food. I’m certain you’ll have found it to be soul satisfying and convincingly Italian, partly because one of the owners, Adam Pegg, lived, worked, and returned with a wife from Trentino.

Now Pegg and partner Lucais Gill have expanded Vancouver’s Trentino turf. They’ve opened La Ghianda, catty-corner from La Quercia, on Alma St.,and it, too, will take you there, panino by panino, rustic dish by rustic dish.

La Ghianda (acorn) is much more rustic and fast service than La Quercia (oak tree) with an emphasis on great panini, made with the most delectable ciabatta (Italian, by the way, for ‘slipper’). They use fantastic ingredients (cured meats, cheeses, olive oils) so panini doesn’t get much better than this.

They also serve pastas (they use dry noodles, unlike the handmade fresh pastas at La Quercia), quiche, soups and pate as well as a meat and fish dish daily. There’s also a daily dinner dish, mostly for take-away as the place closes at 6. That changes daily and could be something like prime rib, leg of lamb, roast pork or lasagne Bolognese.

The interior’s been redone from its days as Hot Cuisine. It now has an alpine ski world look, done with fir taken from an old school in East Vancouver. “We took 300 photos on our last trip back,” says Pegg. They showed it to the carpenter, also from the region. “He knew exactly what we wanted. The only thing that’s missing are the hanging salami and prosciuttos. It’s against regulations here.”

Back to food. A few weeks ago, I wrote about Meat & Bread, a wonderful funky but no-nonsense sandwich shop in Gastown. It’s kind of like the yin and yang. Meat & Bread’s ‘wiches are hot and juicily luscious with just-roasted meats and whereas La Ghianda’s panini are tidier and with cured meats and cheeses.

I tried a chickpea dish. It was braised overnight in chicken stock with prosciutto. With ciabatta, drizzled with delicious olive oil, it was excellent comfort food. Carbonara pasta was delicately sauced and served with a side of finely cut, mellow sauerkraut.

Mortadella and provolone panino featured great ingredients, especially, as I said, the house-made focaccia (soft inside, crisp exterior, requires a slight yank with the teeth to cut through). An arugula, pear, gorgonzola and hazelnut salad was ever-so-lightly tossed, the greens seemed to be standing on tiptoes.

They do lovely Trentino style desserts with its distinctive touches. Apple strudel (cut into a sliced serving) uses ricotta in the crust and crumbed ladyfingers instead of flour to soak up the filling moisture. Cannoli with orange ricotta filling (which Pegg confesses, is not a Trentino tradition, but he couldn’t help himself) is light and addictive. And do not bother debating this one: carrot cake is a Trentino invention. Perhaps not the cream cheese icing part, but definitely, Trentino’s had carrot cake for a long time.

The neighbourhood (and beyond, I’d think) should be thrilled to have this artisanal style Italian deli cafe offering such great quick food. Before stopping in, I went to check out a French deli style cafe that had opened in the neighbourhood and there was no comparison. La Ghianda made my heart race.

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